Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-09-09
| SLEEPING WONDERS.
FEATS ACCOMPLISHED BY PEOPLE
IN THE ARMS OF MORPHEUS.

| Indians Sleeping at the Stake of Tor
l ture-Slumber During Cannonade.
influence of Habit, Time and Circum-
stance-Extraordinary Phenomena.
| Sleep in most individuals lasts for the
space of eight hours. Exceptions to this
| statement are numerous; whether these
| arise from duty or laziness we shall not
| venture to examine Sir e. Codrington,
| the famous naval officer, when midship-
man, could watch on deck for nineteen
7 hours; this left only five for sleep, which
In his case was most profound-so pro-
found that no noise was sufficiently strong
to waken him; yet if the word ''Signal!'
was whispered in his ear he awoke and
was on deck instantly.
Reporters of the house of commons re-
quire great exertions to keep themselves
from sleeping A few years ago a dis
tinguished member of s'the gentlemen in
the gallery took down speech while he
was sleeping. His statement rests on his
oath. Calvin tells of friend of his read
ing aloud to him while asleep. The organ
of vision was alone active.
Coleridge, the dreaming philosopher, .
composed ''Kubla Khan zone of his
poems while fast asleep. Next morning
he was sure there had been an acquisition
to his literature, but was too negligent to
write the stanZas. A few days afterward
he attempted to recall the verses, but they
had for the most part fed, and the poem
as it now stands is but fragment.
IN SPITE OF SURROUNDINGS.
Every one knows that extreme fatigue
induces sleep, and this ia spite of sur
rounding relations, which in ordinary cir
cumstances would hinder any one from
resting. Previous to the shortening of
the hours of work factory children fire.
quently fell asleep while working at the
machines, although well aware that they
would incur severe punishment by doing
So The North American Indian, at the
stake of torture, has been known to 90 to
sleep on the least remission of agony, and
will slumber until the fire is applied to
awaken him.
1t is on record that during the heat of
the battle of the Nile some of the over
fatigued boys fell asleep upon the deck,
and during the attack upon Rangoon, in
the Burmese war, the captain of one of
the steam frigates most actively engaged,
worn out by the excess of continued men
tai tension, fell asleep and remained per-
fectly unconscious for two hours within a
yard of his largest guns, which were
being worked theoretically the whole |
period.
Habit and time, place and circumstances |
predispose us all to sleep. The celebrated |
pedestrian, Capt Barclay, when accom-
plishing his extraordinary feat of walking |
l,000 miles in as many successive hours, |
obtained at last such mastery over him |
self that he fell asleep the instant he lay
down. The doctors wife never hears the |
door bell during the night, although the |
noise is sufficient to rouse the wearied |
husband; but should child in the nur-
sery cry, then the mother, Obvious to all |
other sounds, hears at once the infants |
voice.
EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENA
1t is related that the Able Faria, who
acquired notoriety through his power of |
inducing somnambulism, was accustomed i
merely to place his patient in an armchair, |
after telling him to shut his eyes and col
lect himself, and pronounce in a strong
voice, 'sdormer," which was usually sue
cessful.
There seems to be no limit to the
wonders displayed by man in sleeping.
Condercet, the mathematician, solved one
of his most difficult problems while asleep
"a problem, too, which puzzled him dur
ing his waking hours. A professor of
oiiSOAo5J LIZ OIO University VI OdSl6 once |
wrote sermon while asleep; he found it
on his desk next morning. The preceding
night he could not grapple with the sub
Ject as he desired, but the performance of
his sleeping hours was quite satisfactory
to him.
Jenny Lind was one of the most ce1e-
brated singers of her time. No one could
rival her powers except a factory girl,
who sang sometimes better than the IA
nous Jenny. The girl could not attempt
any difficult piece when awake, but when
sleeping She sang SO correctly, so like the
renowned artistic, that it was difficult to
distinguish between their voices. On one
occasion Nine. Lind heard the girl, who |
even tested the accuracy of her powers by /
giving her long and elaborate chromatic
exercise. This the sleeping girl per-
formed, much to the wonder of the fa-
nous Swedish singer.-London Telegraph.